The Priest House Hotel

The Priest House Hotel is a hotel that was formerly part of a large mill complex known as King's Mills. It dates from around 1800 and was significantly extended in 1964 and 1981. The original section is built of ashlar stone with a tiled roof and ashlar chimneys, designed in a Gothick style.

The building is a tall, narrow block with four storeys. It features a band course at the eaves level and battlemented gables topped with obelisk finials, although some of these finials are missing. The north-west gable end has a tall central recess that is rendered and whitewashed, with an ogee arch at the top. The windows are wooden casements with diagonal leaded glazing, some of which were renewed in the 20th century. The top floor has a two-light window with an ogee-arched head, while the other windows consist of three lights. The lower windows are transomed. The south-east gable has similar untransomed casements with flush voussoir heads, featuring a four-light window on the ground floor and a blocked door. The south-west side wall has matching 20th-century six-light windows, one on the ground floor and two on the first floor, along with a door to the left in a 20th-century gabled timber porch. To the north-east are large 20th-century extensions that are rendered and whitewashed, with tiled roofs and leaded casements, which are not of special architectural interest.

King's Mills have medieval origins, initially used for corn milling and fulling. By 1680, paper mills were established, and later uses included plaster production using local gypsum from Chellaston, log-sawing, and button-making. The mills were rebuilt around 1800 by Lord Hastings in a grand Gothick style but suffered significant fire damage in 1864 and 1927.